Ask George - June 2024

Platform strategies for Microsoft and Sony, generative AI in commercial roles and work for hire transition

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Good morning VGIM Insiders,

Welcome to the first Ask George column and the first ever piece of VGIM paid content.

The premise of this column is simple enough: you ask me questions about the video games industry and I answer them. I am innovating ALL OVER the shop here, people.

This month, I received an interesting spread of questions looking at what the future of video games platforms might look like, why generative AI is being used within commercial roles in the games industry more than in the development space and how work for hire studios can get their first home grown game project off the ground.

But my desire for further interrogation is, frankly, insatiable.

So if you want to pose me a poser or cue me up a question, pop me over an email to george@videogamesindustrymemo.com or whack your question into the comments. I’ll get my chops around the finest cuts in next month’s missive, which will land in your inboxes on 12th July.

Oh and if you want to read below the fold and you aren’t a VGIM Insider, remember to sign up using the code KEENBEAN to get 20% off your VGIM paid subscription before Tuesday 9th July via this exciting little button.

Anyway, let’s get on with answering the first question.

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First party console exclusivity of major AAA titles has notably softened. Major players such as Microsoft and Sony are increasingly releasing major titles at launch (or shortly after) on platforms outside of their own ecosystem such as PC. What are your thoughts on how this might affect consumers with respect to the ‘pull’ factors of the next generation of console hardware? - Harry